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12/12/2017 at 4:09 pm in reply to: What the Future will Bring (or maybe what we hope it will) #28672
The pessimist in me says we are due for some big war, natural disaster, disease or revolution that will wreak havoc for 10+ years….
The optimist thinks that we will keep gaining equality around the world. People everywhere will have healthier, secure, and happier lives in general.
I’ve bought peanuts and other materials from U-Line, or Lowes when they have a good sale/promo on shipping supplies or general % off offers. The problem is one time I bought some bags that were HUGE from U-Line that were designed to hang from a ceiling and go into some hopper device – they took up my garage for over a year…
You may (if you feel comfortable) want to ask your local courier/post office driver if they have a business in your area that gets lots of shipments – check out the place to see if they are tossing everything out and ask if you can come by and pick it up occasionally. You would be surprised how happy most small businesses would be to get rid of “waste” for free instead of filling a dumpster.
12/11/2017 at 9:49 am in reply to: Photo slides of people… can they be sold if they are not your photos? #28568If you look past the subject matter, you are not responsible for what the end user does with the item.
If you sell magazines, books, music, movies, etc and someone decides to pirate them or re-produce parts of them without consent, it is not your issue – they are the end-user using the material improperly.
This is a good video from the BBC on where all the stuff that thrift stores, retail arbitrage, and just overall garbage that gets shipped to Africa and what is done with it (sorted, materials split, recycled, etc) and how the people live and make money that do this work:
The Insider S01E01 Reggie Yates A Week in a Toxic Waste Dump
You would think that first world countries would be able to avoid this, and build systems to recycle materials safely (and humanely) in our own countries.
I’ve seen stories on CBS Sunday Morning as well about “well intended” donations (recently after the hurricane in Houston) and how they are hurtful to the communities that receive random truckloads of donated goods and how they all end up in landfills.
I always wonder what different generations – 50, 100, or even longer ago, would think of our throw-away societies today.
You may be able to find a high-end jeweler that would pay a good rate for the watch.
You have to sift through all the “Cash for Gold” and fly by night hotel conference room buyers, but there are actual honest jewelers that will pay you a good rate for the watch if you don’t want the risk of sending it to someone.
@T-Satt – we really like the idea of the basket of snacks and bottles of water at the door – not just for the holidays, but year round (I can imagine how good a cold bottle of water would be for one of the drivers on a hot summer day). I’ve already got some water, cans of Pepsi, and some chocolate bars for the next driver to choose from that comes by.
Great idea!
I would personally cancel the sale. I’ve had too many problems in the past with countries that do not have good postal systems.
I personally only sell high-value items or items with large shipping costs in North America (US/Canada that share the same tracking systems), and limit other items that are cheap to ship to countries with good postal systems and tracking information in western Europe, Australia, Japan, etc.
And strange enough, where I am in Canada (near Niagara Falls), we still haven’t had any snow.
We usually get the first in October, but nothing so far this year! Don’t miss it at all!
I know that most major carriers will ship liquor/wine/beer within the state, but not across state/county lines or to other countries unless it is legal to do so. You would need to contact the ATF and fill out the appropriate TTB forms if unsure. If they are foreign products, you may need to get FDA approval.
You also have to let the carrier know that it is alcohol, and also pay extra for the driver/pick-up point to verify the age of the person picking it up (if legal to do so in the buyer’s location).
If they are empty, you don’t have to follow any rules and can ship anywhere.
You will get more money for the full bottles, but limit your customers based on the above (if you are honest with the carrier/laws).
When saying “Monster Brand” are you meaning the energy drink?
I have a couple auctions for Lewis Hamilton items, whose team is sponsored by Monster energy drinks with the logo on them. The listing doesn’t mention Monster anywhere as it has a dozen or more logos on the item, but just curious how tight Vero claims are on photos or clothing with numerous logos?
I have a bad story about adding items to sales.
Recently, I bought a shirt that had some free/gift air freshener crystal bag in it that stunk up my mailbox, my house, and after several washes the shirt still stunk like the air freshener packet. I asked to return the shirt because of the smell – the seller didn’t respond so I received a refund from eBay. If I didn’t get this stinky packet of old lady house smelling junk I would have been OK with the shirt.
Depending if you ship internationally, additional items that are not packing material would need to be put on customs forms as well.
My method is to write on each box (where the shipping label is going) something to remember what is in the box in comparison to other shipments that day.
I also use the method Utahbill uses with the two part label – where I use half a 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper for the shipping label, and the other half as the packing slip to let me know what the label is for.
I sometimes pre-pack items when I list them (large bulky items, or items that will take longer to pack since I mail items in the morning before work and don’t have the time for difficult items). For these items, I write a short description on them, as well as a code number that I put in the description of my listing to keep them straight.
We use to give $25 gift cards to the coffee shop across the street from the local post office to the employees we saw almost every day until last year when one of the employees said they couldn’t accept them anymore as it was akin to “bribing a public official”.
We were dumbfounded – but guess they can’t take anything in our area.
We’ve written a few letters over the last year to various senior managers thanking the staff for the service at the post office which have gotten back to the employees and they told us they appreciated the feedback and recognition. It’s the only thing we could think of in lieu of a gift.
It’s a nightmare at the moment at our local post office, and knowing what my mother went through for years working the counter at a post office during the holidays, I feel bad for the employees with all the extra online shopping and pick-ups they have this time of year.
If you can’t give a gift, I do encourage writing a letter to your local post office manager, and regional manager, expressing how much you enjoy the service the teams provides throughout the year. It does go a long way with the employees.
I’ve always wondered if one day that people in the future will “mine” our old dumps for raw materials/antiques and re-sell them.
I have seen a few documentaries on people digging up old outhouses in New York City, dumps in New Mexico for video games, and various dump sites in Europe and it fascinates me the valuable items that can be found.
The way that dumps are setup, with no air, light, and little water getting to the stuff that is buried, there are probably tonnes of treasure to be dug up.
Just imagine even digging up bags of stuff from 50 years ago – all the discarded clothing, bottles/packaging, items, etc. that were thrown out then that are valuable now. But I guess you would have to sort through a lot of diapers, rotten food, medical waste, etc. to get the good stuff.
I buy Beanie Babies every once and awhile – I’ll get a bag full for $1, cut them open, remove the pellets and fill them with catnip.
Our cats and the local shelter cats love them!
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